Planeta Valle: Mobilizing Stakeholders and Establishing Partnerships for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Human Development

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1 Planeta Valle: Mobilizing Stakeholders and Establishing Partnerships for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Human Development Rome, December 7, 2001 At the dawn of the 21 st century we confront great opportunities and at the same time daunting challenges. On the one hand, the scientific and technological progress that we are witnessing in the molecular biology revolution, in information and communication technology, in new materials and in other areas of science, is generating new opportunities for achieving greater welfare for the population and is increasing our capacity to solve the problems that the world confronts. At the same time, we are confronting a persistent problem of high rural poverty that has remained at a very high level in the last decade, and has tended to further deteriorate in recent years. Rural poverty is generating a rural to urban migration, thus generating an equally serious problem of the urban poor, many of which come from the rural sector, expelled by the lack of opportunities in the latter. In the case of Colombia this process is also aggravated by the desplazados, who migrate because of social unrest and civil strife in the countryside. Rural poverty is also closely linked to the increasingly serious environmental deterioration that characterizes many developing countries, compromising the possibility of a sustainable development and of their future welfare. Unemployment, poverty and lack of opportunities create living conditions that generate deep social conflict and one of the worst problems of our time, which is that of terrorism. These conditions do not only threaten the sustainability of the development efforts, but they also weaken the basic social fibber of society, diminishing consensus on basic human values and decreasing the capacity to assure sustainable rural and urban livelihoods. The region of the Valle del Cauca in Colombia is going through such a process. This region is facing a high level of unemployment that is leading to a significant increase of rural and urban poverty, an increasing problem of food security despite having previously been self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs, a sharp increase in social unrest and social conflict, and serious environmental deterioration in terms of sustainable agricultural production, water depletion and soil erosion. Despite the fact that the Pacific coast of this region is one of the geographical areas with the richest biodiversity concentration in the world, this region is now facing a high level of deterioration of its natural resource base. At the same time, development efforts by the national government are having only a limited impact and are not being able to effectively reach the people and respond to the magnitude of the problems that are being faced. From recent experiences two important lessons are emerging. The first one is that complex problems such as those of rural poverty and of food security are no longer a problem that increased food production can resolve. Agricultural research, improved production technologies and rural development policies cannot solve these problems on their own. Given the nature of these complex problems, they require the development of inter-sectorial strategies to be able to confront them, that combine increased agricultural production, higher value added, employment generation, improved education and health services, a sustainable natural resource management and improved governance and community organization based on participatory social processes. The integration of inter-sectorial strategies can better be done at the regional level and at the community level. Two important dimensions play an important role at this level: the territory (territorial dimension) and the local government and local social organization (community organizations). The convergence of these two dimensions provides a context within which it is easier to articulate inter-sectorial strategies than at the national level, provided that their governance capacity is improved. A second very important consideration that emerges from recent experiences is the need to mobilize the various stakeholders that intervene in this process (government, the private sector, farmers, NGOs, community leaders, the

2 academic and research community), and to develop a consensus among them on the basis of a Shared Vision of the society they wish to construct, and of a common perception of the strategic challenges and opportunities they confront. On the basis of these two factors, concerted action and partnerships among stakeholders in strategic development programmes can increase the possibilities of success. It is within this context that the Planeta Valle Initiative has been launched. This is a very special undertaking based on a public/private sector strategic alliance that has taken about two years to put together through a pilot project phase that is currently ending. Planeta Valle is a Regional Development Entity that is being established as a joint collaboration between the local (provincial) Government, the private sector (coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce of Cali), the academic and research community spearheaded by a major University (University del Valle) and by CIAT, NGOs and other community organizations. It is truly an inter-stakeholder undertaking based on partnerships among them and on a very strong grass-roots participation. Core budget funding is coming from the local government and from the private sector based on a formal commitment between the two; funding for the programs that will be developed is coming from a variety of sources, including both national and external funds. 1 This initiative is aimed at developing, in the Valle del Cauca region, an integrated inter-sectorial strategy for addressing the challenges of poverty eradication, food security, sustainable development and competitive insertion in the globalized world of today. But in doing so, it seeks to mobilize all the stakeholders around a Shared Vision and around a set of strategic issues and action proposals, that have been identified as either obstacles or opportunities for the development of the region. The programmes and activities of the Planeta Valle Initiative are being carried out at two levels. The first one is that of strategic thinking and consensus-building aimed at identifying key development challenges and opportunities the region confronts, that can lead to concrete action proposals and investment requirements that have to be addressed. The second level is constituted by the concrete development and/or investment projects that are generated to address the needs and requirements identified in the first level of analysis. It is this second level that makes this Regional Development Entity an operational one. Building on the fact that the economy of the region has a strong agricultural basis, Planeta Valle seeks to mobilize and bring together the key actors in agricultural development, in industry (including agro-industry), in education, in health, in transportation, in natural resource management and in other aspects of regional development. The Planeta Valle Agenda is being developed through several modules, four of which will be described in this brief summary. The first module has to do with strengthening strategic thinking and prospective analysis in the region. This module plays a key role in the development of the Planeta Valle Agenda, since the latter is derived from this strategic and prospective analysis and from efforts aimed at developing a consensus as well as concerted action or partnerships among stakeholders in the region. Planeta Valle has already carried out a series of regional workshops and seminars with a strong participation from a broad range of stakeholders, with the purpose of advancing this strategic thinking exercise in the region. From these seminars, as well as from the follow-up actions that will be carried out in the near future, three products are being envisaged: (1) a Shared Vision of the type of society stakeholders wish to construct in the region and the characteristics it should have; (2) the identification of a set of strategic problems or challenges that have to be addressed, in order to respond to both the opportunities and challenges the region confronts; and (3) an emerging Planeta Valle Agenda that can help to articulate the concerted efforts of stakeholders in the development of the region. The first product, the Shared Vision, has already been achieved. In order to achieve this Vision, three critical 1 The contribution from the private sector is being mobilized through the Chamber of Commerce of Cali ( Cámara de Comercio de Cali ) and through contributions from various enterprises. Page - 2

3 challenges have been identified that provide three broad strategic objectives for this initiative: (a) generate employment through an increased sustainable production based on a competitive insertion in the national and international markets; (b) improve security in the region, by developing sustainable rural and urban livelihoods that can lead to a higher social consensus and to the strengthening of the basic social fibber of society; and (c) assure good governance by strengthening social participation, improving local public administration and combating corruption and inefficiency. All the action proposals that are described in the next three modules are all related to one of these strategic objectives or to a combination of them. The next steps in the development of this initiative will be to operationalize these strategic objectives into concrete action proposals, as well as development and investment projects, that can constitute the Planeta Valle Agenda. The regional seminars that have been carried out have produced valuable information and recommendations that can provide inputs into this process, but further work will have to be carried out in order to develop a feasible agenda. In this respect, it is not only a question of developing a coherent view and a set of proposals for action. It is much more complex than this. The challenge here will be to develop consensus among stakeholders on these ideas and action proposals, in order to develop a commitment of the various stakeholders to the objectives and the activities that are being proposed. This requires providing opportunities and fora for debate and reflection among stakeholders in order to socialize (internalize) the knowledge and ideas that are being generated, and to develop shared collective perceptions on key strategic issues. Secondly, the challenge also requires the mobilization of stakeholder efforts around those shared ideas and action proposals, thus converting them into viable actions and specific development projects, such as those that are described in the next three modules. A second module is aimed at the development of rural-based agroindustries that can add value and generate employment in the rural sector, and that can thus contribute to the objectives of eradicating rural poverty and achieving food security through a sustainable development effort. The competitive insertion of these agro-industries in both the national and the international markets is of great importance. This module has two important components. The first one is aimed at identifying opportunities for agro-industrial development in the region on the basis of the current agricultural production as well as on the identification of new products that could be introduced through the agricultural diversification program, placing a special emphasis on the identification of underutilized and orphan crops that can have a market value, either in the national or the international market. This may require both further agricultural research to achieve this objective (including post-harvest technology and processing), or it may basically consist in a problem of getting the existing technology into the hands of the farmer. In either case emphasis is being placed on participatory research approaches to assure an increased interaction between research and extension. The second component is related to the formulation and implementation of specific agro-industrial development projects in the region. The agro-industrial projects that are being formulated within the Planeta Valle Agenda have two important characteristics. The first one is that they are based on the development of rural innovation systems in the particular crop/commodity that is chosen, following a commodity-chain ( filière ) approach. This implies the articulation of innovation networks that bring together technological research centres, farmers organizations, NGOs/Community organizations, and development agents active in the region. These innovation systems seek to include both modern scientific knowledge as well as local empirical knowledge (or local wisdom ). Here the Centro de Productividad del Pacífico, that seeks to promote innovation and competitiveness in the productive sector of the region, can play a key role. The second characteristic is that the community and the farmers are deeply involved in the design and development of these agro-industrial projects. Thus these projects have a strong component of strengthening social organization and participatory mechanisms at the community level in order to make sure that the benefits reach the small producer, and that the development of this agro-industry is strongly based on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are close to the producers Page - 3

4 (i.e. rural SMEs). These projects thus seek to contribute to the strengthening of the social fibber of the regional society through the strengthening of these community social organizations and their related participatory mechanisms (i.e. cooperatives, etc.). Two specific agro-industrial projects that reflect these characteristics are ready, and they have been presented for funding to Italy: the Uva Isabella Project and the Mora Project. Documents with the detailed description of these projects are available. Other crops/commodities are being analyzed in order to identify opportunities for their development. This second module will participate actively in one of the Global Partnership Programs (GPPs) that the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) is sponsoring, which is that of the Global Network on Agro-industrial Groups for the Development of Peasant Economies that is coordinated by the International Pole on Rural Innovation (IPRI) in the IAO in Firenze (Italy), as well as in the GIPHT initiative of FAO. Through these GFAR global networks the Planeta Valle initiatives will seek to interact with similar experiences that are being developed by stakeholders around the world, in order to learn from their experiences and to identify best practices that could be useful to the projects that are being developed locally. Through this interaction with other stakeholders around the world it is hoped that learning networks can be developed in terms of what works and what doesn t, and why. Repeating the same mistakes again can be avoided, as well as contributing to the accumulation of knowledge on key issues for the development of the region. One of the most interesting aspects that GFAR networks contribute is that they allow local projects at the municipio (community) level to take advantage of the fact that they are operating in a globalized world, where it is possible to have access to information and knowledge resources generated by stakeholders around the world. This possibility of inter-stakeholder interaction at the global level has an important value added for stakeholders that act locally, since this allows them to tap knowledge systems that are based on stakeholder experiences around the world. A third module is aimed at strengthening the capacity for sustainable natural resource management (NRM) at the community level. In order to do so, this module concentrates on two specific issues. The first one is that of strengthening the capacity to monitor the deterioration of key natural resources through the use of modern technologies, such as GIS and other techniques. This will be developed through a combined effort between the University del Valle, CORPOICA, CIAT, the IAO of Firenze (Italy), regional NRM agencies such as CVC and the local governments of the participating communities (municipios). The second issue, which will be addressed only in a few selected cases, will be that of conflict-resolution among stakeholders in the management and use of specific natural resources (i.e. water, forest resources, etc.). It is interesting to point out that the management of natural resources is a topic that mobilizes people because of the impact on their wellbeing, and is thus one of the entry points to the strengthening of community social organizations and of local governance, given the importance of NRM in most communities. One of the main issues that is emerging in this area is that of the sustainability of agricultural production systems in the region, and how to introduce more agroecologically sound production practices. On this particular topic CIPAV, a local NGO that forms part of an international network of research groups that work on these topics, will play an important role. Given the importance of sugar cane production in the region, this topic of sustainable agricultural production is of central concern. This third module will participate actively in two of the Global Partnership Programmes (GPPs) that GFAR is sponsoring: one on Conservation Tillage (DMC) and the other one on Promoting Local Innovation (PROLINNOVA) in NRM. There is a third GPP that will be followed with interest to see what can be learned from it, which is that of Appropriate Technologies for Tropical Ecosystems, that FORAGRO and GFAR are sponsoring. The same considerations made in the previous module apply here with respect to the role the GFAR networks can play in allowing local projects to profit from the experience accumulated by stakeholders elsewhere. A fourth module is aimed at strengthening the management of genetic resources in the region, a problem of great importance given the rich biodiversity this region has. The emphasis here is placed Page - 4

5 on both conservation of genetic resources, as well as their sustainable utilization. CIAT, CORPOICA and other institutions play a major role in matters related to ex-situ conservation. The initiatives or projects promoted by Planeta Valle will concentrate more on in-situ conservation, and on the role of farmers as well as of communities in this process. In this topic, a close interaction will take place with the programs that are being carried out in the wider region of the Chocó Biogeográfico. In terms of sustainable utilization of genetic resources, this leads to a very close interaction with the previous two modules (NRM and commodity chains and agro-industrial development). The activities that Planeta Valle will sponsor in this area will seek to develop a close interaction with the regional/sub-regional genetic resources networks that currently exist, with IPGRI and with the endeavors aimed at implementing the Leipzig Plan of Action. In this brief summary emphasis has been placed on those modules that are more relevant for the Cooperation Program that is currently being discussed in Italy. But Planeta Valle also has three other modules: the first one is related to improving education and training in the different levels of the educational system (education and human resources development having been identified as one of the main challenges the region faces); the second one relates to improving governance and public administration at the regional and local levels, in order to increase efficiency and decrease corruption; the third one is related to promoting innovation in industrial development projects, such as in the software industry and others that may play an important role in the development of the Valle del Cauca region. There is also a cross-cutting topic/issue that cuts across all modules, which is that of the development of a greater capacity of social consensus and conviviality ( convivencia ) in a society characterized by a very high level of social unrest and social conflict. This is one of the main challenges the region confronts, which is that of how to contribute to the recovery of Social Peace through the strengthening of the social fibber of a society that has been under stress by recent events, in order to generate a new Social Pact. This major objective cuts across all the four modules that have been described above, since the conditions for the emergence of this new social pact can only be assured through the development of sustainable rural and urban livelihoods that the above mentioned efforts can generate. From the point of view of the institutional context in which this initiative is taking place, it is interesting to point out the importance of the strategic alliance between the region, represented by the provincial Government and the territorial dimension it covers (the territory ), and the Chamber of Commerce of a major metropolitan center of that region, which in this case is the Chamber of Commerce of Cali, that has the capacity of mobilizing the private sector. But at the same time, the institutional context that emerges is one that is participatory and that seeks to develop through partnerships among stakeholders, and that thus clearly integrates academia and the research community, the NGOs, farmers organizations and various forms of community organizations. Most of the actions that are carried out within this strategy are really at the local community ( municipio ) level, but they form part of a concerted strategy that is conceived at the regional level, here defined by the region of the Departamento del Valle del Cauca. This local/regional dimension is complemented by an awareness that we live in a globalized world based on a knowledge economy, where access to knowledge is critical if we want to avoid the dangers of the knowledge divide that is distinguishing between those with the capacity to access the knowledge they need and those that do not have it. Thus, the local activities that Planeta Valle will sponsor will be inserted into global networks through the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and FORAGRO/IICA at the regional (Latin American and Caribbean) level. Through these networks local stakeholders will be able to tap the knowledge and experiences developed by stakeholders elsewhere, while seeking to contribute to the knowledge pools that these networks generate. Page - 5